AverageAmericanGuy:I haven't ever seen the Voice. Is it like American Idol? Is it a show where a contestant can win or is it just a showcase for talent?

they have the blind auditions on The Voice whereas AI doesn't. The Mrs. watches both. I had hoped after Simon left AI it would have crashed and burned. The first season of The Voice was ok for a new concept in a talent search format but the folks who have won on there you haven't heard much out of them since winning.

/did read where some former contestants on AI were suing because when they run background checks the black contestants were getting booted off while the white ones were being allowed to stay.//and when I happen to be in the room while the Mrs. is watching I tend to get ran out when I start mocking their back stories. "I started singing when I was young and used to sing to amputee abandoned pets and decided to try out for this show when my three legged one eyed no eared terrier named Lucky died from colo-rectal cancer" Pretty much figure when they put one of those "heart-tugging" stories on the contestant is going to go to the next round and it is seems to be the norm for all of these singing shows now.

jimmyjackfunk:I tend to get ran out when I start mocking their back stories. "I started singing when I was young and used to sing to amputee abandoned pets and decided to try out for this show when my three legged one eyed no eared terrier named Lucky died from colo-rectal cancer" Pretty much figure when they put one of those "heart-tugging" stories on the contestant is going to go to the next round and it is seems to be the norm for all of these singing shows now.

Oh dear Gods, the back stories - I swear it's compulsory now. To the point where someone made a parody Voice contestant whose "tragic back story" was the he had no tragic back story.

I don't know about The Voice over in America, but the Australian one is probably about the same in terms of how much actual publicity help they give the winners - "Win The Voice and you too can drop off the face of the planet." It doesn't help that most of the coverage comes from the women's magazines frantically writing fanfic about who Delta Goodrem is supposedly having sex with.

Mind you, the quality of the voices they get on the show is pretty good.

Bashar and Asma's Infinite Playlist:The girl who won a couple seasons ago was a professional singer who already had a band and recording contract. That show doesn't make much sense.

A lot of contestants are using The Voice as a way to "reboot" their careers now - there were a few in the last season who'd already had contracts before or prior fame and were using the show to start over again.